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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24951523">The Sickly Child</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuluRyne/pseuds/LuluRyne'>LuluRyne</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Phantasy Star (Video Games), Phantasy Star Online 2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION WOO, Gen, Spoilers, Tags Are Hard, apologies about the random pronoun swap halfway through., for once persona does not combat, persona gives risa a story, plot bunny bounced in my head, pso2 na compliant, risa is as risa does, spoilers for everything after episode 1!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 07:33:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,024</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24951523</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuluRyne/pseuds/LuluRyne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In Naverius, Risa is on a mission when she comes across Persona.</p>
<p>But Persona doesn't want to fight. Instead, they want to tell Risa a story.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Sickly Child</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>boing boing plot bunny.</p>
<p>I thought of this after making a post on tumblr about how I was interested in Risa's character-- and then this happened.</p>
<p>PSO2 NA is up to Episode 3, so unless you've completed that episode please don't read this as it contains spoilers!!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You told me a story a while back.”</p>
<p>The voice that said those words was heavily filtered with the taint of Falspawn, but even moreso through the mask covering the face. Persona sat upon a rock, unarmed with their arm draped across a raised leg. Risa turned her rifle towards them, a grin on her face.</p>
<p>“Oooohhh? Did I? I don't remember telling a <em>Falspawn</em> a story!” She cackled, looking down the barrel at the masked figure. “Oh no no no, not me! I wonder how you'll scream with all these bullets in your gut~ Ooh, the thought makes me want to shoot, shoot, <em><b>SHOOT</b></em> you until I hear you scream!”</p>
<p>Persona seemed unfazed by the CAST's words. “You told me a story of a being turned into a CAST who shared the same name as you. And about how she was... special, in a sense.”</p>
<p><em>Not you</em>, Persona thought to themselves. <em>Another Risa. Another version I will never see again.</em></p>
<p>“And how do you know that?~” Risa asked in her creepy sing-song voice. “Were you eavesdropping? That's bad, bad, <em><b>BAD</b></em>! And I'll have to torture the full information out of you!” Another cackle. The Dark Falz put a hand to their face, closing their eyes. The pink-tinted glass colored the world, but when they closed their eyes... they could see the world as it used to be, without the corruption turning it pink. They saw Risa, standing there looking down her barrel as if they weren't looking through the glass.</p>
<p>Glass they'd started wearing when Matoi died... Ten years ago. When she became the Profound Darkness, and they were forced to kill her. The loss had corrupted them, turning them into a Dark Falz.. Persona the Masked, the would-be saviour of Matoi. Shaking their head, they remained where they were regardless of Risa's threats.</p>
<p>“Your photonic power was immense, but your body couldn't handle it.” Persona said, raising their right hand a little. “So they made you a CAST, because it was a waste of such power. Now you have the body to handle it, but with the price of your sanity.”</p>
<p>That made Risa lower her rifle just a little. If this Dark Falz had been listening in, then they probably had been following her! With a high-pitched laugh, she aimed her rifle at them before firing. The bullets didn't hit the mark as Persona warped to a different rock, going back to sitting down. It was a higher vantage point, and gave them a good look at Risa standing below.</p>
<p>“Ooooh! I just <em>love, love, <b>LOVE</b></em> moving targets!” She took aim again, but paused. Something wasn't calculating right. Dark Falz and Falspawn usually attacked ARKS with no remorse, but this one was trying to hold <em>conversation</em> with her! She wasn't interested in standing around chatting all that much, more interested in murdering Falspawn and whatever stood in her way. “Move some more! More, more, <em><b>MORE!!</b></em>” She shot at them again, but the bullets didn't find their mark. Instead, the rock deflected them away. Too low.</p>
<p>“What if I told you a story of my own?”</p>
<p>“Of how you <em>eavesdropped</em> on me and Knight?~ I'm not interested, I'm more interested in hearing you scream!”</p>
<p>“A story for a story, so it's an exchange of information on the two of us.” Persona bit their lip, not feeling it when their teeth broke through the skin and made them bleed. Their pain tolerance was scarily high, and the taste of their own blood had them calling upon the photons to heal themselves. Their lip healed, and Persona put a hand to their mask. “I was also born frail. Fragile, and weak. I could barely get out of bed.”</p>
<p>“Ohhh? Are you comparing yourself to the Risa from my story?~” Risa asked, grinning.</p>
<p>“She and I are... similar.” Persona adjusted their position on the rock, finally removing the mask. Their hair was unkempt and fell down their face. White hair faded into a purple-pink gradient, and grey CAST eyes glanced at Risa. The obvious feminine face, with a fresh scar on Persona's lip, was a dead giveaway on their identity. Risa actually looked shocked, and took a step back. The rifle fell from her hand.</p>
<p>“Knight...?” Risa's voice was filled with... a different emotion other than “Cheerful Murder”.</p>
<p>“Persona,” was her correction. Persona shifted in place again, putting a gloved hand to her mouth. Her voice was so rough and hoarse from years of not being used since Matoi died, now that she thought about it. It was unfamiliar at first, but over the time she'd gotten used to it. Knight... was a name she hadn't used in so long, too. “I wasn't like Risa. I had no potential. I was a worthless nobody from a no-name area. My dream had always been to join ARKS, but I was bedridden for most of my life.”</p>
<p>It was hard to think about for Persona. She could still see the sky from that... cage that she lived in until that day. Most people didn't remember their lives before becoming CASTs, but Persona did. It wasn't a memory she liked looking back on. “My only view was a window to the outside world. I had... two of them. A ceiling window, and a window to my right. For years, those were my windows to see outside. My parents... saved up enough money to have me transformed. They didn't want to lose their daughter, and so I became a CAST.”</p>
<p>“And you remember <em>all </em>of that? CASTs can't remember who they were before, or anything before their transformation~ Are you <em><b>LYING</b></em>?” Risa picked up her rifle, the shock having worn off, and she looked down the barrel again at Persona.</p>
<p>“No.” Persona put her mask back on, covering her face from Risa's view. “Ask Knight to tell you a story, then.”</p>
<p>With that, Persona vanished from view, leaving a bewildered Risa standing there as a white-haired CAST walked up to her.</p>
<p>“What are you doing, Risa?” The CAST asked.</p>
<p>Blue eyes glanced back at the CAST, and Risa smiled a bit.</p>
<p>“Hey Knight, can you tell me a story?”</p>
<p> </p>
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